Braille menu available at U Club

By Jillian Bogater

The University Club now offers a Braille menu for its blind diners.

The menu, made at the Adaptive Technology Computing Services (ATCS) center in Shapiro Library, was introduced earlier this year. Its cover was designed by Lisa Bartlett, manager, University Unions Graphic Design Office.

The idea for the menu was sparked after a blind patron visited the restaurant, located on the first floor of Michigan Union, says Carole Dubritsky, assistant director and ADA coordinator, Office of Institutional Equity. Dubritsky learned that several Ann Arbor restaurants offer Braille menus and decided to explore how the university could have one made for the UClub.

She soon found out that Jim Knox, who works for Information Technology Services, has access to a Braille embosser in the ATCS center. After Dubritsky contacted Knox, he offered to print a menu for the restaurant.

Laura Seagram, marketing and communications specialist for University Unions, says the University Club welcomes the addition.

"It's a great thing," she says, adding that customers have requested the menu since it was introduced.

A second menu is being designed because the restaurant recently changed its offerings, Seagram says.

Patrons may access the Braille menu for themselves or a guest by asking the restaurant's host/hostess. The UClub also has posted a sign at the reception stand.